You have to start thinking outside of the box. The schools listed get a ton of applicants like your daughter. In order to get merit aid your daughter needs to stand out above and beyond the other applicants. Look outside of the northeast. Look in the bottom half of the top 100 schools. Go to their financial aid pages and look at how their merit aid works. Know that many other families are in the same boat. Get that UMass app in early and have your kid know that may be the smartest choice for her. The other consideration is finding ways to make more cash available by cutting back on your overall family budget.